Cadillac Plays Down Development Head Start for 2026 F1 Entry

Despite a longer head start in development, Cadillac insists it holds no real advantage over rivals ahead of its F1 launch.

Cadillac’s new Formula 1 team has dismissed suggestions that it will enjoy a major advantage heading into the 2026 season.

Although Cadillac plans to introduce its own factory power units with General Motors in 2029, the team will enter F1 next year using customer Ferrari engines. The team’s foundation is built on Andretti Global, and preparations are well underway.

Work on the 2026 car is being carried out at Cadillac’s brand-new F1 facility near Silverstone. Wind tunnel testing is happening at Toyota’s facility in Cologne, which became available after McLaren vacated the site.

While current F1 teams were only allowed to begin developing their 2026 cars at the start of this year, Cadillac wasn’t subject to the same rule. The reason? Its official entry wasn’t confirmed until March, giving it a few extra unrestricted months of development.

Graeme Lowdon, Cadillac’s team principal, acknowledged at the Miami Grand Prix that their 2026 model has indeed been in the wind tunnel longer than the others. But he was quick to downplay any real advantage.

“We’ve had more time in the wind tunnel, that’s true,” Lowdon said. “But we can’t cross-check any of our data. We don’t have a car on track yet, so we can’t verify our findings under real-world conditions.”

Some rival teams have complained about this extra development window, but Lowdon shrugged off the criticism with a touch of humor.

“I’m happy to offer any team the chance to swap places with us and take our data instead of their current position,” he said. “But I doubt anyone would say yes.”

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Cadillac Plays Down Development Head Start for 2026 F1 Entry Cadillac Plays Down Development Head Start for 2026 F1 Entry

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